In a major development, the star Sri Lanka National Cricket Team all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has received a suspension from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and he will miss the entire Test series against Bangladesh National Cricket Team.
Hasaranga had retired from Test cricket at the age of 26 on 15 August 2023. He made the decision in order to make himself more available for franchise cricket tournaments around the world.
The star all-rounder featured in 4 Test matches for the country and was highly ineffective with the ball, picking up just 4 wickets. With the bat, he scored 196 runs at an average of 28.00. When he announced his retirement from Tests, he wasn’t a regular member of the team.
On Monday, March 18, the SLC announced their squad for Bangladesh Tests and Wanindu Hasaranga ended his retirement and returned to the squad. With his recent return, he was expected to regularly feature in Test cricket for the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team.
However, now he has been banned and will miss the series. He was found guilty of a Code of Conduct breach. The star all-rounder breached article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “showing dissent at an Umpire’s decision during an International Match.”
In the 37th over of the 3rd ODI match against Bangladesh, he snatched his cap from one of the umpires and ridiculed the umpiring in the match. Wanindu Hasaranga has also been fined 50% of match fees and 3 demerits points have been added to his record. In the last 24-month period, Wanindu Hasaranga has collected eight demerit points, hence, he got four suspension points, which means a ban for two Tests or four ODIs or T20Is, whatever comes first.
Wanindu Hasaranga Fooled ICC With His Cunning Scheme?
Many believe that this was altogether a masterplan of the star Sri Lanka cricketer to get banned for the Bangladesh Tests. Notably, he would have missed the matches of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 if he wasn’t part of the Sri Lanka squad for Bangladesh Tests.
As per the FTP of the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team, after the Bangladesh Tests, they would have directly faced the South Africa National Cricket Team in the 4th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on June 3 in New York.
The Lankan Lions playing without their skipper for the four T20I matches in the World Cup would have been a massive blow to their chances in the tournament. Hence, there is a possibility that Wanindu Hasaranga along with Sri Lanka planned his comeback to Test cricket only to make himself fully available for World Cup.
In other news, Sri Lanka ODI captain Kusal Mendis has also been fined 50% of his match fee and three demerit points have been added to his record.
He breached article 2.13 of the Code, which relates to “Personal abuse of a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire or Match Referee during an International Match.” Notably, Kusal Mendis has been fined for a Level 2 offense after he “abused the umpires while shaking hands with them” after the third ODI against Bangladesh, which his team lost to eventually lose the series.
Meanwhile, the Lankan Lions won 2-1 in the T20I series against Bangladesh while the Bangla Tigers won the ODI series 2-1. The first Test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be played from Friday, March 22 in Sylhet. The second and final Test match of the series is scheduled to start on Saturday, March 30 in Chattogram.
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